Economies attendant the use of the telephone, as well as the effectiveness of direct oral communication, have resulted in ever-increasing volumes of telephone traffic. However, as a related consideration, persons who use the telephone extensively normally spend a considerable amount of time unsuccessfully trying to establish telephonic contact, their efforts frequently failing as a result of "busy" or "no answer" situations. The present invention is directed to the recognition of the need for a system to effectively accomplish telephonic contacts, and further, to provide such a system in cooperation with structure for effectively scheduling and processing telephonic contacts.
In general, the system of the present invention should be recognized as having widespread application to solve a variety of telephonic scheduling problems. However, a specific form of system will serve to exemplify the structure and illustrate a typical operating application therefor. In that regard, as an illustrative application for the system, consider an operation in which a number of telephone people work through a substantial list of parties to be contacted, pursuing an oral interchange with each party. Of course, such operations are rather common and might involve such specific objectives as: debt collection, telephone solicitation, information surveys and so on.
Recognizing that several variables are involved, it is not uncommon for persons involved in such telephone work to spend in excess of one-half their time attempting to establish telephone contact with desired parties. Consequently, a substantial fragment of the cost attendant a telephone operation as considered above relates to the burdensome and often unsuccessful effort of establishing contact with desired parties. Accordingly, a considerable need exists for an improved system to reduce the time and effort expended by a person to establish telephonic contact. A further need relates to effectively processing the information resulting from the calls and attempted calls of such efforts.
In general, the present invention may be embodied to effectively schedule and expedite telephone calls, as for one or more telephone workers. Each such worker, i.e. operator, is accommodated at a calling or operating station by a telephone instrument, a display apparatus and an input structure. The system incorporates apparatus for storing: the telephone numbers of stations to be contacted, messages to be communicated, and status codes for the station to be contacted, along with other alternative information in the form of identifications and so on. The system processes such information, seeking to contact each station to be called, and upon each contact, the system alerts a specific operator with a cue for the substance of a message to be communicated. Consequently, the operator is able to concentrate on effective communication. The system may also incorporate means for registering indications of the results of telephonic contacts and attempts to contact.